Saturday Morning Quarterback will appear weekly and offer a look back at Friday’s games and try to make sense of the madness that is high school football.

OPENING POSSESSION

Oh no, not again. Instead of a celebratory vibe on the Charter Oak High School football team’s sideline during the second quarter of its 49-14 rout of Northview, there was nothing but concern.

Who knows what kind of hardware Charter Oak could’ve finished with last season were it not for quarterback injuries. Well it happened again on Friday. Starting quarterback Jalen Palacios tweaked the knee he blew out last season and ultimately ended his season before the leaves even changed.

Palacios wasn’t the Chargers’ quarterback at that time. That was Bret Clemetson, who went on to break his collarbone. Palacios would’ve been the backup, but he was hurt. Then the backup, Matt Takata, got hurt. But Palacios was back this season and won the starting job with a big summer.

Palacios, not wearing a brace for whatever reason, was injured in the midst of Charter Oak’s first-half pasting of Northview. After leaving the game, Palacios was visibly upset on the sideline and limping badly. He didn’t return. Coaches were trying to put an optimistic spin on the situation by saying he only rattled some scar tissue or tore cartilage.

The Chargers certainly looked tantalizingly good again, but if Palacios is lost, then all bets are off. Takata, is now at La Mirada where he transferred and is awaiting his eligibility. Now the Chargers wait … and hope this is just a ill-timed scare.

BLINDSIDE SACK

On paper, La Habra’s visit to Upland looked like a battle of two CIF Southern Section Division 2 championship contenders. But Upland made it abundantly clear that it alone may be the class of the division with a 35-7 win.

The good, competitive game many expected was one-sided in favor of the Scots. Remember, Upland was dropped out of Division 1 this offseason. Meanwhile, La Habra was almost bumped up to Division 1. You have got to wonder if the CIF-SS maybe jumped the gun dropping Upland.

AUDIBLES

San Marino coach Mike Hobbie truly is the mad scientist. Nobody can argue that Hobbie is as good as it gets when it comes to coaching offense. He’s now also proving to be very unpredictable.

Two seasons ago, San Marino rode a high-flying passing offense to a CIF-SS championship. Then, Hobbie stunned everyone by breaking out the wing last season. Sure, a lot of the personnel was different, but still, that’s about as big of a 360 as a team can make.

So on Friday night, with the same quarterback as last season, Hobbie had the Titans back in a spread offense … one back in the backfield and three receivers split out. It’s going to take some time, as Friday’s 42-28 loss to Los Altos proved. But it’s hard to doubt Hobbie.

THE LOOK AHEAD

Glendora toughed out a win over Kaiser on Thursday night. Damien did the same over Chino on Friday. Now the two teams look like they’re set for an early season showdown next week when the Spartans host the Tartans.

For fans, it won’t get any better because seeing Glendora quarterback Bryce Wooldridge and Damien signalcaller Warren Bryan on the same field is a two-for-one special you can’t beat.

EXTRA POINTS

Not a good start for new Rosemead coach Matt Castaneda, who was ambitiously trying to return some swagger to the Panthers program this summer. A game against rebuilding South Pasadena looked like a great spot for Castaneda to start producing some tangible results. Instead, the Tigers kicked the Panthers out of town with a 20-7 win.

The sloppiness that Castaneda railed against last season was still omnipresent on Friday night. Like we said in early August, first-year coaches don’t have a lot of credibility built up, so early success is crucial. Castaneda is now under the gun.

Temple City may be on to something with new coach Riley Saxon. The Rams scored a 21-7 win over Pasadena Poly on Friday. That’s pretty big considering Temple City lost last year’s game to Poly by 28 points.

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